The district itself borders the districts of Segamat and Ledang to the north, Kluang to the east, Muar to the west and shares a border in the southeast with the district of Pontian. The coast of the Straits of Melaka lies to the south.

A plaque next to the Batu Pahat Well depicting the town's origin (www.batupahat.org).

The town acquired the name Batu Pahat, which means "chiselled stone", from the quarries near the estuary.[1] There are multiple theories as to the origin of this name. In around 1456, the Siamese army, led by Admiral Awi Di Chu, camped in Batu Pahat before attacking Malacca. [2] Legend has it that the invading Siamese troops were chiselling rocks at a rocky spot in the coastal village of Kampung Minyak Beku, in hope to get fresh water during their retreat from the Melaka troops, led by Tun Perak, the famous Bendahara (Prime Minister) of the Malacca Empire. Another possible explanation for the origin of the name is the fortress ("a famosa") built by the Portuguese after capturing Melaka, which was made from granite rocks taken from the mouth of Sungai Batu Pahat.

Renowned for its salted fish in the past, Batu Pahat was formerly known as Bandar Penggaram, which means "town of salt-makers". In 1893/1894, the present township was founded by Dato' Bentara Luar, Mohamed Salleh bin Perang, acting on the orders of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Abu Bakar.[3]

Batu Pahat was also the location of the headquarters for the 1Bn FIR of Fijian troops serving as part of the Commonwealth forces during The Malayan Emergency, from 1952 to 1956. The 1,600 strong force saw considerable action during the campaign and contributed to the securing of the area during that period.[4]

Today, the ancient well can still be found in Minyak Beku, though little was done to maintain this ancient landmark which gives name to the town. For the town's centennial celebration in the early '90s, a quaint monument depicting a floating hand chiselling a rock was set up in the town square. It became the landmark of the town instantaneously. Currently, the newly refurbished town square is popular with locals on weekend nights and also provides as a venue for many public festive celebrations.

Bandar Penggaram,Batu Pahat is administered by Majlis Perbandaran Batu Pahat or Batu Pahat Municipal Council which was upgraded from the previous District Council (Majlis Daerah Batu Pahat Barat)on 9 June 2001 while Yong Peng is administered by Majlis Daerah Yong Peng or Yong Peng District Council which previous named Majlis Daerah Batu Pahat Timur.

Batu Pahat district has 525 gazetted villages (kampung-kampung pl.) and village-clusters (kampung rangkaian) where smaller villages were annexed to their bigger immediate neighbours for the purpose of administration. The villages are represented by Ketua-Ketua Kampung (village heads), answering to the Penghulu (subdistrict chief) administering the mukim. The mukim itself however is under the jurisdiction of the District Officer or Pegawai Daerah. The district office of Batu Pahat also have five district engineers (Jurutera Daerah) to oversee all the subdistricts.

Growth in small and medium industries such as textiles, garments and electronics helped to boost development, and Batu Pahat was upgraded to town status (Majlis Perbandaran) in 2001, alongside Muar, Kluang and Skudai. As of 2008, the government does not have any plans to upgrade Batu Pahat to a city status (Majlis Bandaraya).

Whole district of Batu Pahat has a population of about 417,458 local residents.[5] The most populated mukim is Simpang Kanan with more than 311,862 people and the least populated is Bagan with a population of only 4,692.

There are two major mosques in Batu Pahat: Masjid Jamek (located at Jalan Ampuan) and Masjid Batu Pahat (located at Jalan Kluang).

Batu Pahat has over 400 Chinese temples, a reflection of its racial harmony. Some of these temples are beautifully renovated and thus have also become a tourist attraction. Many tourists, especially from Singapore, visit these temples and this has become part of the income for the locals. A unique Chinese temple located at Bukit Pasir, "Jian Nan Temple".

Local "pasar malam" or night markets are held in residential areas with petty traders setting up stalls, selling all sorts of food and daily necessities with very cheap prices. These night markets are held every night in different places with a rotation schedule of a week:

Batu Pahat is a heaven for local Malaysian food. The best way to enjoy local Malaysian food is to savour it with a cup of coffee brewed from coffee beans that are locally produced. Traditionally in Malaysia coffee is served in a porcelain cup and saucer, with a small porcelain spoon used to stir your coffee. This has now been replaced in many parts of Malaysia by glasses and plastic spoons, which take away so much of the whole kopi culture. However, in Batu Pahat many eateries, referred to as “Kopitiam”, carry on this traditional way of serving coffee. Some of the famous eateries include SJ Corner Kopitiam(角头咖啡店) and Glutton Square(海墘小贩中心).

Batu Pahat is also famous for its nasi bariani. This is a south indian dish that has long been adopted by local people and now became a signature dish here. The bariani rice is served with either mutton, beef or chicken. Some place also sell vegetarian option. Some famous place for Nasi Bariani is Restoran Bariani Power in Taman Soga near the hospital or Nasi Beriani Md. Shah at the Medan Selera Benteng Peserai.

Batu Pahat is also famous for asam pedas dishes. These is slightly different from the one served in Malacca. Famous asam pedas outlet is at Jalan Rahmat where there is about 5-6 restaurants all serving asam pedas with different variety in term of opening hours, type of fish and side dishes. Most famous is the first shop Restoran Man Cathays and the next door shop, Asam Pedas Tambak. The hot selling fish is stingray, red snapper, sembilang (a variety of brackish water catfish). One can also have a fish head asam pedas (red snapper). While usually eaten with plain white rice, there is variety of side dishes like bean sprouts, telur masin (salted egg), telur dadar (Malaysian-style omelette), winged bean, or tempeh, all cooked in sambal-like servings. To bring the spiciness into the next level, these food can be eaten with a complimentary sambal belacan.